With a foreword by Joaquin Almunia. This work was awarded the 2011 Jacques Lassier Prize.

dc.description.abstract

This book presents a thorough critical examination of the European regulatory reaction to technological convergence, tracing the explicit and implicit mechanisms through which emerging concerns are incorporated into regulation and competition law, and then goes on to identify
the patterns that underlie these responses so as to establish the extent to which the issues at stake, and the implications of intervention, are fully understood and considered by authorities. Focusing on conflict points--areas of tension inevitably arising among overlapping regimes-- the analysis covers such elements as the following: the provision of multiple-play services; the advent of convergent devices; the interchangeability of transmission networks; subscription-based (pay television) services; the diversification of television services (such as on-demand and niche-theme channels); the relative scarcity of (premium) content; the migration of television content with cultural and social relevance to pay television; and the emergence of bottleneck segments in the communications value chain. Endorsing the adjustment of existing rules to meet pluralist objectives, the author outlines a single, coherent regulatory approach. He shows how a careful analysis of the implications of technological convergence helps to solve conflicts between regimes. Specifically, the analysis addresses the level-- national or EU--at which particular regulatory responses should emerge, the objectives guiding action, and the tools through which these objectives may be pursued. These conclusions command the attention of policymakers, regulators, and lawyers active in the ongoing development of communications law.

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dc.description.tableofcontents

List of Abbreviations.
List of Tables.
List of Figures.
Foreword by Joaquiín Almunia.
Acknowledgements.
Part I The Multiplication of Regulatory Regimes in Communications Markets.
Chapter 1 Technological Convergence and Its Impact on Television and Telecommunications.
Chapter 2 Legacy Television Regulation: A Defensive Reaction to Technological Convergence.
Chapter 3 The Rise of Competition Law as a Source of Television Regulation.
Chapter 4 Technological Convergence and the Regulation of Telecommunications: Achievements and Limits of Re-regulatory Reforms.
Chapter 5 The Emergence of 'Conflict Points' between Regimes.
Part II An Assessment of Regulatory Choices in 'Conflict Points' between Regimes.
Chapter 6 The Acquisition and the Exploitation of Television Rights: Competition Law and Rivalry Bias.
Chapter 7 The Exploitation of Television Channels: The Limits of the 'Logic of Foreclosure'.
Chapter 8 Access by Channel Operators to Networks and Multichannel Distributors: Distinguishing Tools and Objectives.
Chapter 9 Reassessing the Role and Scope of Regulatory Regimes. Bibliography.
Table of Cases.
Index.

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en

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dc.publisher

Kluwer Law International

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dc.title

European Communications Law and Technological Convergence: Deregulation, re-regulation and regulatory convergence in television and telecommunications